From the Outside Looking in
by pink fluff
Summary: George watches someone he cares about being happy with another man...[ONE SHOT]


**Disclaimer: _All characters are based on the Harry Potter books, except for the little girl; that one's mine :)  
_**_**This is only one chapter.**_

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From the Outside Looking in

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The snow is falling. Small snowflakes rested upon the red petals of the rose.

The stores, the shops, the restaurants, the pubs: all of which were closed by now were all beautifully decorated for the season. No one could fail to notice the sparkling lights of green and red, draping over every corner that night.

Everyone except for George maybe.

There she was.

Through the window was the black-haired angel he'd adored for so many years. Time hadn't seemed to weary her perfection at all. She was as stunning as when he'd first laid eyes on her.

Her subtle yet gorgeous features made her movements even more graceful, and for a moment he felt he was caught in time. The colorful Christmas tree she stood beside gave a luminating natural glow on her skin, and making George's pulse race.

'_And she doesn't even know how pretty she is.'_

His eyes wandered to her delicate fingers, as she smoothed down the ribbons on a box and gently placing the gift under the tree.

She stepped back, admired her work and smiled; the smile George longed to captivate. But her smile wasn't for him. It never had been.

For all the years he'd known her, someone else had always captured her emotion. And how stupid he was to let her go.

After all this time, she was the only woman to make his heart beat faster and slower at the same time. He felt as if time and space around them had stopped completely when their eyes meet. It was magic.

But not anymore. Now it was torture, like the joke had been on him all along. Was he just too blind to see this? No, of course not. He knew it was inevitable but he dared not face it.

George's eyes fell heavy and light as he saw a young child, no more than two, run up to her embrace.

"Hi baby! You love the tree?" he heard her say to the child in her arms.

The little girl was beautiful, just as her mother.

The wind had picked up and the falling snow continued mercilessly. George brought up his jacket to his neck, pulled his hat further over his ears, and snuggled his arms around himself tighter. What he'd give to be in the warmth of her embrace. But that's impossible. He gave her up a long time ago, though her face lingered in his mind.

He could never forget her however he tried. She took a special part of him that can't be taken back. But maybe he doesn't want it back.

He hoped she won't forget him either, but just a small laugh from her little girl's lips could erase the memory of him forever.

The burning agony of watching her move on without him was just too much to bear. Yet a small glimmer of a smile flashed across George's face.

'_At least I know she's happy.'_

The bellowing Christmas carols just around the corner could be heard.

To him it seemed like everyone around him was happy. They all had someone to come home to.

"Angelina," a man's voice called out from the other room.

The woman turned around to greet her husband as he kissed her sweetly on the lips.

George ached in pain as he watched his brother wrap his loving arms around her. It was as if his heart was breaking all over again.

He winced and his eyes watered. Fighting through the anguish, he bit back the tears.

'_Boys don't cry.'_

Leaving was the right thing to do. He couldn't survive anymore living day after day seeing her with his brother, knowing he can't have her.

Starting a new life, in quidditch, without so much as a reminder of what could have been was the only solution he could find.

He watched their little family in torment, as they laughed together by the comfort of the hearth, with carols in the distant heard lightly singing.

And the snow came down still.

His limbs were numbing from the cold but he didn't move. The lights from houses across the street were twinkling behind him.

Angelina's eyes caught the glimmer of the lights outside and thought she saw a figure by the window. The man's eyes locked with hers for a brief minute, as she thought she saw the stare of a familiar stranger. This was his cue.

She let the young girl free from her embrace as she stood up to head for the front door.

"Angie?" Fred called to her, confused.

She threw open the door expecting to see him but in the snowy blaze of the winter snow, there stood no one but the breeze.

Her eyes darted back and forth, from the window, to the curve around the neighbors' house. The street was empty.

Slightly disappointed, she stepped back into the house but before she could close the door she spotted an object which contrasted the snow.

A single red rose lay on her doorstep with a note attached.

_I want you to know I loved you  
__I wanted to know you loved me too  
__I wanted to be with you forever  
__But now I'll never know forever._

She reread the note several times and smiled to herself sadly.

"George…" she whispered in the bitter December wind.


End file.
